Written by lyricist Kenneth Jones and composer
Gerald Stockstill, alumni of the Tony-Honored BMI-Lehman
Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, NAUGHTY/NICE features
more than twenty characters singing almost twenty musical
numbers. You know these kids — or maybe you were one of
them: the boy who dances to his own unique carol, the girl
aching to mother a dolly, the lad in the spotlight in the
Christmas pageant, the brutally naughty brats who insist
they're really nice, the tots whose questions about the
season border on the existential, and the needy, greedy and
profoundly selfish boys and girls who misunderstand (or
don't care about) the true meaning of Christmas.
NAUGHTY/NICE is book-ended by an
opening sequence ("Dear Santa"), which introduces the quirky
tone and the distinct personality types that will emerge
during the show, and a final number ("Part of Me"), in which
the now-grown characters (dressed in "adult" urban black)
express their wish for a way to finally embrace the season.
The final sequence is filled with rueful optimism — and with
hope.
The creators view the show as perfect
for "downtown" commercial venues or "second stage" spaces at
resident theatres, and/or as counter-programming to more
traditional fare like A Christmas Carol. Mixing the heart of
A Charlie Brown Christmas with the salty postmodern comedy
of The Santaland Diaries, Avenue Q and Spelling Bee,
NAUGHTY/NICE will be a potent audience-builder, targeting
twenty-to-fiftysomething theatregoers. It's also viable as
an off-season summer specialty, presented with a
"Christmas-in-July" marketing twist.